Medicines, their uses and mode of administration : including a complete conspectus of the three British pharmacopoeias, an account of all the new remedies, and an appendix of formulae / by J. Moore Neligan.
- John Neligan
- Date:
- 1849
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Medicines, their uses and mode of administration : including a complete conspectus of the three British pharmacopoeias, an account of all the new remedies, and an appendix of formulae / by J. Moore Neligan. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
97/504
![of ammonia, Oij.; macerate for 14 days and strain). Dose, min. xx. to min. xxx., three times a day; seldom used.— Vinum Colchici, L. E. {Vinum Colchici Radicis,\J. S.) (Colchicum cormus, dried and sliced, §viij. [ibj. U. S.] ; sherry wine, Oij.; digest for 14 (7, E. days, (express strongly the residuum, E), and strain). It may be prepared with the seeds {Vinum seminum Colchici), using the same proportion, a preferable preparation as being more uniform: [Vinum Colchici Seminis. Take of colchicum seeds bruised §iv. ; wine Oij. Macerate for fourteen days, with occasional agitation ; then express and filter through paper, U. S.] Dose, f3ss., gradually increased to f5ij-, three or four times a day.—Succus Colchici, is prepared by expressing the juice from fresh cormi, allowing it to stand 48 hours to deposit the fecula, and adding to the clear liquor a fifth of rectified spirit. This is a most active preparation, and keeps well. Dose, min. v. to min. xx. Incompatibles.—Acids; tincture of iodine ; tincture of guaiacum; and all astringent vegetable infusions and decoctions. In cases of poisoning with colchicum, emetics followed by demulcent drinks should be immediately administered ; and if coma be present, brandy, ammonia, coffee and other powerful stimulants should be given. The vegetable astringents have been recommended as antidotes, tannic acid forming an insoluble precipitate with veratria. CoLOCYNTHIS, [U. S.] L. E. CuCUMIS C0L0CYNTHIS, FRUCTUS pulpa, D. Colocynth. Pulp {dried, L.) of the fruit of Cucumis colocynthis. This plant, the bitter cucumber, is a native of several parts of Asia and Africa, and is cultivated in Greece and Spain ; it belongs to the Natural family Cucurbitacea, and to the Linnaean class and order Moncecia Syngenesia. Botanical Characters.—A creeping, procumbent, annual ; Leaves ovato-cordate; Flowers, yellow, axillary, solitary; Fruit {pepo), globose, about the size of an orange, yellow when ripe, with a thin solid rind. Preparation.—The fruit is gathered when ripe, peeled and dried. In some countries it is dried without being peeled. Physical Properties.—The pulp of the dried fruit, which is the officinal part, is of a pale yellowish-white colour ; it is without odour, but has an intensely bitter, nauseous taste ; it is light, spongy, porous, and so tough as to be with difficulty reduced to powder. The unpeeled fruit {Mogadore Colocynth), is imported in small quantities into Eng- land, but is only used by druggists in show-bottles. Chemical Properties.—Colocynth pulp contains a peculiar bitter matter, which has been rfamed Colocynthin and on which its purgative property is supposed to depend, resin, pectin, gummy matter, and various salts. It yields its active properties to both water and alcohol. Adulterations.—Colocynth pulp is not liable to adulteration ; but if it be of a greyish or brownish colour, it is of inferior quality. Therapeutical Effects.—Colocynth operates as a stimulant to the intestinal canal, its influence being specially directed to the large intes- tines, promoting both their secretion and exhalation, as well as in- creasing their vermicular motion ; in large doses it is a dangerous poison, producing intestinal inflammation. In consequence of the drastic properties it possesses when administered alone, it is always combined with other cathartics in order to mitigate* its action, as in](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21143602_0097.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
